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NEW DELHI: On this day in 1988, India lowered the voting age from 21 to 18, expanding voter participation and strengthening universal adult franchise in the world’s largest democracy. The 61st Constitutional Amendment, enacted under Article 326, brought millions of young citizens into the democratic process.Introduced by the government led by former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, the 61st Amendment is regarded as a landmark reform in Parliament, empowering millions with a fundamental democratic right in India.Universal suffrage ensures that every eligible citizen can participate directly in process of choosing their representatives, whether to the Lok Sabha, state assemblies, or local bodies across urban and rural India.
What is Article 326?
Elections to the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha of states are to be conducted on the basis of adult suffrage. This clarifies that every Indian citizen who is at least 18 years of age on a date specified by law, and who is not disqualified under the Constitution or any law due to non-residence, unsoundness of mind, criminal conviction, or corrupt or illegal practices, is entitled to be registered as a voter in such elections. Key points –Scope – Applies to both the Lok Sabha and state legislative assembliesBasis – Adult suffrage, every citizen meeting the age and legal criteria has the right to vote.Minimum age – 18 years (as fixed by legislation in 1989)Disqualification groundsVoting rights can be denied due to -Non-residenceUnsoundness of mindCriminal convictionsCorrupt of illegal practicesRegistration – Eligible citizens must be registered to vote in electionsLowering the voting age was more than a legal reform; it was part of India’s broader effort to widen political participation and shape an electorate that reflects the country’s diverse and increasingly youthful population.
Reversing colonial legacy
In the years leading up to independence, voting in India under British was a limited privilege. Under colonial rule, barely 13 per cent of Indians were eligible to vote, with franchise restricted by property, education, and income qualifications. Large sections of society, workers, peasants, women, and young people, remained outside the electoral process. Democracy, as experienced by most Indians, was distant and exclusionary.
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Independent India sought to reverse this legacy from the very outset. One of the most striking decisions taken by the framers of the Constitution was to adopt universal adult franchise. At a time when many newly independent nations hesitated to extend full voting rights to their citizens, India chose to trust its people. Every adult, regardless of gender, caste, wealth, or education, was given an equal vote.India’s approach to women’s voting rights was particularly notable. Unlike in many parts of the world where women had to fight long and sustained political battles to secure the franchise, Indian women received the right to vote from the very beginning of the republic. This placed India among the early nations to grant women full electoral rights, well ahead of several established democracies. Yet even as the universal adult franchise took shape, the minimum voting age remained 21 for decades. By the 1980s, this threshold increasingly appeared out of step with social realities. Young Indians were entering higher education, joining the workforce, and engaging actively with political and social issues, yet many had no formal voice in choosing their representatives.That changed with the 61st Constitutional Amendment Act, passed in the Rajya Sabha on December 20, 1988, and brought into effect on March 28, 1989, amending Article 326. The amendment lowered the voting age to 18, signalling faith in the political maturity of India’s youth.It acknowledged that democracy must grow with its people, especially in a country where young citizens form a significant share of the population.
What is the universal adult franchise?
From the very beginning, India’s Constitution makers took a bold and deliberate decision: democracy in independent India would rest on universal adult franchise. This meant that every adult citizen would have one vote, and that every vote would carry equal value. There would be no distinctions based on caste, creed, religion, gender, education, income, or social status. The word “universal” captured this promise in full: political equality for all.This principle became a cornerstone of Indian democracy. Elections to the Lok Sabha, to the legislative assemblies of states and union territories, and to local bodies in villages and cities were all anchored in this idea. Article 326 of the Constitution enshrined it clearly, affirming that elections would be based on adult suffrage and that voting was a personal right, no one could cast a ballot on another’s behalf.The decision marked a decisive break from the colonial past. Under British rule, voting rights were limited and deeply exclusionary. Laws such as the Government of India Acts of 1919 and 1935 restricted the franchise to those who met specific property, income, or educational qualifications. As a result, only about 3 to 10 per cent of Indians were eligible to vote. For the vast majority, political participation remained out of reach.This long history of exclusion made the demand for universal suffrage central to India’s national aspirations. The idea appeared early in constitutional thinking. The Constitution of India Bill of 1895 asserted that “every citizen shall have the right to give one vote.” Over the following decades, the demand evolved and strengthened. The Lucknow Pact of 1916 spoke cautiously of creating “as broad a franchise as possible,” while later proposals, such as the Commonwealth of India Bill of 1925, still retained restrictions based on property and education.By the late 1920s, however, the direction had become clear. The Nehru Report of 1928, drafted under Motilal Nehru’s leadership, declared that every person who had attained the age of 21 would be entitled to vote, unless disqualified by law. This commitment was reinforced by the Karachi Resolution of 1931, which resolved that any future Indian constitution must rest on adult suffrage.In the 1940s, the demand became unequivocal. Influential documents such as the Sapru Report (1945), B.R. Ambedkar’s States and Minorities (1945), and the Gandhian Constitution of Free India (1946) all provided for universal adult franchise. Even the Cabinet Mission Plan of 1946, while citing practical difficulties in applying the principle immediately, acknowledged adult suffrage as the democratic ideal.
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By the time the Constituent Assembly began its work in December 1946, the case had already been settled. Universal adult franchise was recommended as a non-negotiable feature of the future Constitution. Though one member briefly opposed the idea on theoretical grounds, the Assembly’s leadership made it clear that the decision had already been taken. The debate closed swiftly, reflecting the broad consensus in favour of political equality.Article 326 of the Constitution formally sealed that commitment. When India held its first general elections in 1951–52, nearly 173 million citizens were registered to vote, an unprecedented democratic exercise, as cited by ConstitutionofIndia.net. Many elections have followed since, but the principle remains unchanged: in India, democracy begins with the simple, powerful act of one person, one vote.
When India chose universal suffrage ahead of the world
It is often assumed that Western democracies, with their long histories of representative government, were early champions of universal adult franchise. The record, however, tells a more complex story. In many of these countries, the right to vote for all adults emerged only after prolonged struggle, and often much later than commonly believed.The First World War (1914–18) was fought, in the words of the Allied Powers, to make the “world safe for democracy.” Yet, even as democracy was invoked as a moral cause, several of these nations had not yet extended the vote to all their citizens. Ironically, it was defeated Germany that moved first, incorporating universal adult franchise into its Constitution in 1919.Great Britain, despite its long parliamentary tradition, took nearly a decade longer to remove voting inequalities. In 1918, it extended the franchise to all adult men aged 21 and above, but women were granted only a limited right to vote, and only if they were over the age of 30. Full voting equality between men and women came only in 1928, when this discrimination was finally abolished.France, the country associated with the powerful ideals of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity, introduced universal adult franchise even later. French women gained the right to vote only in 1945, after the end of the Second World War. Switzerland presents an equally striking example. Often cited as the home of direct democracy, it denied women the right to vote at the national level until the early 1970s.Against this global backdrop, India’s decision stands out. When the Constitution was adopted in 1949 and implemented on January 26, 1950, the country embraced universal adult franchise in one decisive step. Every adult citizen, man or woman, was granted the right to vote, without distinctions based on education, wealth, or social status. For a newly independent nation emerging from colonial rule, this was an extraordinary act of democratic confidence.Voting age, too, has varied widely across countries. In some nations, adulthood at the ballot box came much later. Denmark and Japan, for instance, once set the voting age at 25, while Norway fixed it at 23. In contrast, countries such as Great Britain, the United States, Russia, and Turkey eventually settled on 18 as the threshold for voting.India’s own journey later aligned with this global shift when it lowered the voting age to 18 in 1989. Together with its early adoption of universal adult franchise, the move reinforced a defining principle of Indian democracy: political participation is not a privilege reserved for a few, but a right extended to all adult citizens. Go to Source
